WISCONSIN RAPIDS – City residents living in one and two-family homes should soon be able to keep a limited amount of chickens for personal use.

Wisconsin Rapids Council member James Stack cast the only no vote Tuesday night for a new ordinance to allow the chickens.

“I feel that chickens are farm animals and belong in the country, on farms,” Stack said. “Cats and dogs are pets, not chickens.”

When the ordinance goes into effect, people living in one- or two-family homes may keep up to four chickens. They cannot have any roosters and are not allowed to sell any eggs the chickens produce.

People who want to have chickens will need to send letters to all adjoining property owners notifying them. The neighbors have to be notified but chicken owners do not need the neighbors’ approval.

There is a large movement to purchase fresh produce from farmers markets, said Katrina Hittner, a member of the Clean, Green and Welcoming Group, which proposed the ordinance. Giving residents the opportunity to have fresh eggs is the next logical step, she said.

The ordinance also will allow parents to educate children on where their food comes from and eating healthy, Hittner said.

Council member Scott Kellogg said he contacted Stevens Point, Madison and other community officials from municipalities with chicken ordinances and asked whether communities had any problems with chickens during the past three years. The answer was no, Kellogg said.

The ordinance will have to come back to the City Council one more time and be published before it goes into effect.

You may contact reporter Karen Madden at 715-423-7200, ext. 6729, or follow her on Twitter: @wrtkmadden